1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of solar power systems, and more specifically towards systems, circuits, and methods for reconfiguring solar cells of an adaptive solar power system.
2. Art Background
Conventional solar modules are generally constructed by stringing together solar cells and then assembling the solar cells into a solar module that is typically encapsulated by ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and sandwiched between a glass sheet and a polyvinyl fluoride (TEDLAR) sheet. As such, a conventional solar module may comprise a packaged interconnected assembly of solar cells. Monitoring of a conventional solar power system is generally performed at the solar module level by measuring each solar module's generated output. As such, any reconfiguration of the conventional solar power system is conventionally implemented at the solar module level. The reconfiguration of solar modules may be used to address issues that result when there exists a partial covering of a solar module. The partial covering of the solar module results in the degradation of the operating performance of the solar module. Since the degraded solar module is typically in series with other solar modules to construct a solar module string, the degradation of one solar module would adversely impact the performance of the entire solar module string as the solar module string is typically limited by the weakest solar module.
Conventional reconfiguration techniques at the solar module level apply techniques for isolating each solar module from the solar module string by using a DC-DC converter and then delivering the energy from the solar module. This results in each solar module operating independently. Typically, an external box is coupled to each solar module to control and implement the reconfiguration.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,944 discloses a reconfigurable solar panel system comprising a plurality of solar cells arranged in a predefined pattern on a printed circuit board that comprises a predefined pattern of interconnection paths to form at least one solar cell module. The solar panel is made of at least one solar cell module and has the capability to be configured and reconfigured by programming at least one integrated circuit that communicates with each and every solar cell on the solar module. The system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,944 is capable of monitoring, controlling, and protecting the solar panel, as well as being reconfigured before, during, and after the panel has been assembled. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,944 discloses a system for cell level monitoring of voltage measurements and cell level re-configurability.
Although conventional techniques provide systems and methods to monitor and reconfigure solar modules, it would also be advantageous to monitor and reconfigure individual solar cells. The increased granularity of the monitoring and reconfiguring would allow for a more flexible and robust solar power system and provide means to harvest additional power. Additional techniques to implement a solar power system based on solar cells may eliminate the need for the conventional solar module packaging. As such, these techniques may additionally provide a more flexible and robust solar power system.